Overall Challenge in 2020 is 80 Books
– Most of my books will be from the library, books I own, plus some ARC’s
– About a fifth will be audiobooks (same as usual)
– Cross-over books between challenges are okay
Smaller 2020 Challenges
Women writers – 20 books ✅
I’m not following any particular challenge, just reading female authors and looking to make some choices diverse.
1. A Murder at Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Technically started in 2019 but I’m the captain here :P)
2. My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
3. Charlotte Pass by Lee Christine
4. Cannabis for Seniors by Beverly A. Potter
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
6. Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Nasrine Abgaryan
7. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
8. Hit by Tara Moss
9. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
10. The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman
11. The Simple Life by Rhonda Hetzel
12. No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
13. The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
14. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
15. Below Deck by Sophie Hardcastle
16. The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James
17. The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson
18. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
19. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
20. A Ghostly Gift by Angie Fox
22. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
23. Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer
24. Flying too high (Phryne Fisher #2) by Kerry Greenwood
25. The Story of More by Hope Jahren
26. The Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood
27. Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura
28. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
29. Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris
30. The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories by Charlaine Harris
31. Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2) by Charlaine Harris
32. Tea & Croakies by Sam Cheever
33. Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #3) by Charlaine Harris
34. The Great Divide by L.J.M. Owen
35. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
36. Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4) by Charlaine Harris
37. Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse #5) by Charlaine Harris
38. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
39. Quiet by Susan Cain
40. Splitting by Amanda Ellison
41. We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
42. 30 Covert Emotional Manipulation Tactics by Adelyn Birch
43. Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship by Adelyn Birch
44. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
45. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
46. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
47. Complete Self-Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes
48. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
49. Dead[ish] by Naomi Kramer
50. Ghost of a Chance by Angie Fox
51. Kiss me Quick by Ally Blake
52. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Chiristina Lamb
53. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
54. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
Diverse – 12 books ✅
Again, it’s just my own challenge to read diverse with LGBTQ, disability, other religions, Africa, Asia, Latin America, African American… I’m not trying to list them all, but I’m sure you get the idea.
1. A Murder at Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
2. My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
3. Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Nasrine Abgaryan
4. No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani
5. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
6. Gulpilil by Derek Reilly
7. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
8. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
9. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
10. There There by Tommy Orange
12. Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura
13. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
14. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
15. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
16. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
17. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Chiristina Lamb
Classics – Edit: 6 books 👎🏻💣🔥
Talk about crash and burn. I moved this from 12 books down to 6 and I couldn’t even make that. Turns out I’m not that keen on classics overall. There are some I love, but I started many this year and read a little before screaming no and throwing down. Live and learn.
Having said that, the two below were fair – four stars for Jackson and three for Drewe.
1. The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson
2. The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe
The 2020 Aussie Author Challenge – 12 books ✅
The 2020 Aussie Author Challenge: It’s up and running and I’m on it! – page for 2020is here 🙂
I’ve chosen Kangaroo level which means 4 female writers, 4 male writers, 4 writers I haven’t read before, and chosen from at least 3 different genres.
Female authors:
1. Charlotte Pass by Lee Christine
2. The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
3. Below Deck by Sophie Hardcastle
Male authors:
5. The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe
7. Death in the Ladies Goddess Club by Julian Leatherdale
8. Gulpilil by Derek Reilly
Writers I haven’t read before:
9. The Simple Life by Rhonda Hetzel
10. Flying too high (Phryne Fisher #2) by Kerry Greenwood
11. The Great Divide by L.J.M. Owen
13. Kiss Me Quick by Ally Blake
14. Trigger Warnings by Jeff Sparrow
Note: Most of my Aussie reads were by authors new to me. I’d read Tara Moss books before.
The 2020 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – 6 books ✅
1. Cannabis for Seniors by Beverly A. Potter
2. Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times on Television by Louis Theroux
4. No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani
5. The Dharma of Fashion: A Buddhist Approach to Our Life with Clothes by Otto Von Busch
6. Cognitive Psychology by Michael W. Eysenck and Mark T. Keane
7. Dr Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest by Rebel Girls
8. Retrosuburbia by David Holmgren
9. Hygge by Charlotte Abrahams
10. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
11. Gulpilil by Derek Reilly
12. The Simple Life by Rhonda Hetzel
13. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
14. Feeding the birds at your table by Darryl Jones
15. The Story of More by Hope Jahren
17. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics by Andy Field
18. SPSS Statistics by Allen, Bennett and Heritage
19. Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes to Far by Dr Paul Offit
20. Sloths! by William Hartston
21. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
22. Splitting – The Inside Story on Headaches by Amanda Ellison
23. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
24. 30 Covert Emotional Manipulation Tactics by Adelyn Birch
25. Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship by Adelyn Birch
26. Complete Self-Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes
27. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Chiristina Lamb
My itty Bitty Horror Challenge – 6 books
Nothing to say here. Just getting in some horror.
Update: I came close – with one or two horrors reserved at the library in December. They didn’t come through though. 😔
1. The Institute by Stephen King
2. The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson
3. Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
4. Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
5. The Whisper Man by Alex North
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Top image credit: Jaredd Crai3